The government committee responsible for determining which pharmaceuticals will be included in the national HMO basket is expected to announce their decision pertaining to a number of drugs. The cabinet on the other hand has eliminated the need to make one decision, to allocate NIS 65 million of the nation’s health budget for dental care for children, the daily HaMevaser reports. Free dental care is becoming a reality for the nation’s young, below 18, beginning this year.

The removal of the NIS 65 million from the pharmaceutical basket leaves that budget with NIS 350 million, a move that has many angered, insisting that while pediatric dental care is a wonderful thing, the drugs that will not be included in the national basket are for everyone, children and adults alike, and now, this will not happen.

Behind the move is none other than Deputy Health Minister R’ Yaakov Litzman, who during recent weeks pushed the bill through, determined to offer families free dental care for children, aware than many many families simply do not have the funds for preventative dental care. After encountering formidable resistance from committee members, Litzman decided to circumvent their authority, taking the matter directly to the cabinet.

Some of the opponents explain that even though Litzman was successful, the amount allocated falls far short of the sum needed and no one really knows where the deputy minister plans to find the remainder of the sum required to fund the noble project.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)